East Village Opera Company - A Preview & Review
PREVIEW
New York's East Village Opera Company, who make their Dallas debut this Friday, Nov. 17 at 8:00 PM, performed in Kalamazoo, MI last weekend. The Kalamazoo Gazette ran a lengthy pre-show article that gives good insight in to this ambitious and hyper-talented band:
"If a greatest-hits album were to include more than what today's pop culture esteems, you would have to include songs like ``Habanera'' from Bizet's ``Carmen'' or ``Nessun dorma'' from Puccini's ``Turandot.''
You can hear songs like these everywhere -- in TV commercials, cartoons and movie soundtracks -- and not even know they're opera arias.
Now they've been ramped up through a full-tilt rock approach in a new interpretation of the classics by the East Village Opera Company."
Read the complete preview, with interview, here.
REVIEW:
HIGH-OCTANE EAST VILLAGE OPERA APPEALS TO ROCK LOVERS
Friday, November 10, 2007
By Gordon Bolar
Kalamazoo Gazette
Here's a confession from a reviewer more comfortable with rock than opera. I didn't know what to expect from East Village Opera Company at Miller Auditorium on Thursday. I was apprehensive.
The evening began on a good note. I breathed a sigh of relief after hearing a few bars from the Who's ``Won't Get Fooled Again'' during the company's ``Overture'' from ``Le Nozze di Figaro.'' I felt more encouraged when at the end of Puccini's ``Che Gelida Manina'' from ``La Boheme'' the company sampled ``Who Are You?'' also by the Who.
When arranger and keyboard player, Peter Keisewalter, told the appreciative audience that the group would be performing ``songs, not arias,'' then assured us that we didn't have to speak Italian, I knew I'd come to the right place. The realization that I was familiar with many of the songs in the program, such as the ``Flower Duet'' (``Lakme'') or ``Habanera'' (``Carmen'') from a variety of contemporary pop culture sources helped clinch the deal.
What followed was an hour-and-40-minute performance by 10 musicians, including a small string section, who were clearly thrilled to present classic pieces in a rock format. They seemed to be playing music they loved and reclaiming it for their audience.
For those who followed the English lyrics in the darkened theater (I tried) there was a solid connection between the words, sung in Italian, and the emotions rendered by vocalists Tyley Ross and AnnMarie Milazzo. Milazzo's bold delivery of ``Un Bel Di'' from ``Madama Butterfly'' was one of the evening's many highlights.
Although most of the songs are faithful to the original lyrics and melodies, the company frequently intersperses the work of contemporary performers, such as Eminem, to round out pieces and underscore their relevance to present-day life. The company also adds a strong dose (too strong in some numbers) of pulsating colored-light changes, free-ranging movement, dynamic gestures and body language.
All of the pieces are supercharged with pounding drums and powerful guitar solos. As Tyley Ross, an energetic and gifted singer, concluded his dynamic ``Nessun Dorma,'' Ben Butler took stage beside Ross with his soaring lead guitar. The visual interplay between vocalist and guitarist, which would be missing in a traditional opera, added to an already powerful finale.
New York's East Village Opera Company, who make their Dallas debut this Friday, Nov. 17 at 8:00 PM, performed in Kalamazoo, MI last weekend. The Kalamazoo Gazette ran a lengthy pre-show article that gives good insight in to this ambitious and hyper-talented band:
"If a greatest-hits album were to include more than what today's pop culture esteems, you would have to include songs like ``Habanera'' from Bizet's ``Carmen'' or ``Nessun dorma'' from Puccini's ``Turandot.''
You can hear songs like these everywhere -- in TV commercials, cartoons and movie soundtracks -- and not even know they're opera arias.
Now they've been ramped up through a full-tilt rock approach in a new interpretation of the classics by the East Village Opera Company."
Read the complete preview, with interview, here.
REVIEW:
HIGH-OCTANE EAST VILLAGE OPERA APPEALS TO ROCK LOVERS
Friday, November 10, 2007
By Gordon Bolar
Kalamazoo Gazette
Here's a confession from a reviewer more comfortable with rock than opera. I didn't know what to expect from East Village Opera Company at Miller Auditorium on Thursday. I was apprehensive.
The evening began on a good note. I breathed a sigh of relief after hearing a few bars from the Who's ``Won't Get Fooled Again'' during the company's ``Overture'' from ``Le Nozze di Figaro.'' I felt more encouraged when at the end of Puccini's ``Che Gelida Manina'' from ``La Boheme'' the company sampled ``Who Are You?'' also by the Who.
When arranger and keyboard player, Peter Keisewalter, told the appreciative audience that the group would be performing ``songs, not arias,'' then assured us that we didn't have to speak Italian, I knew I'd come to the right place. The realization that I was familiar with many of the songs in the program, such as the ``Flower Duet'' (``Lakme'') or ``Habanera'' (``Carmen'') from a variety of contemporary pop culture sources helped clinch the deal.
What followed was an hour-and-40-minute performance by 10 musicians, including a small string section, who were clearly thrilled to present classic pieces in a rock format. They seemed to be playing music they loved and reclaiming it for their audience.
For those who followed the English lyrics in the darkened theater (I tried) there was a solid connection between the words, sung in Italian, and the emotions rendered by vocalists Tyley Ross and AnnMarie Milazzo. Milazzo's bold delivery of ``Un Bel Di'' from ``Madama Butterfly'' was one of the evening's many highlights.
Although most of the songs are faithful to the original lyrics and melodies, the company frequently intersperses the work of contemporary performers, such as Eminem, to round out pieces and underscore their relevance to present-day life. The company also adds a strong dose (too strong in some numbers) of pulsating colored-light changes, free-ranging movement, dynamic gestures and body language.
All of the pieces are supercharged with pounding drums and powerful guitar solos. As Tyley Ross, an energetic and gifted singer, concluded his dynamic ``Nessun Dorma,'' Ben Butler took stage beside Ross with his soaring lead guitar. The visual interplay between vocalist and guitarist, which would be missing in a traditional opera, added to an already powerful finale.
posted by TITAS at 12:18 PM
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